Top 25 Social Networking Sites for Healthcare & Medical Professionals

Why use Facebook, LinkedIn or some other social network when you can join a network already populated with your peers? Medical and healthcare professionals are busy with patients, learning curves and constant information overloads. A network aimed at your needs can ease your career load and enhance your future possibilities.

Doctors, surgeons, specialists, nurses and students all can gain valuable connections and invaluable knowledge by joining one of the twenty-five social networking sites for healthcare and medical professionals listed below. The sites have been categorized and listed alphabetically within each category. This method shows readers that we do not favor one networking site over another.

Physicians

Doc2Doc: This site contains a free online doctors community that holds a range of tools for doctors to network with other doctors on a professional and social level. Create a forum, build your own community within this community based upon your own interests or workplace and find and connect with new or old colleagues around the world. This network is powered by the BMJ Group.

DocCheck Faces: This private social network site operates on the premise that “in every white coat you’ll find a human being.” This network is free to use and exclusive for medical professionals (meaning, doctors only). Register, build a profile and find contacts or invite colleagues. This site is a full subsidiary company of the DocCheck AG.

DoctorNetworking: Discuss medical topics, ask and answer medical questions, post and find medical jobs and network in privacy with this physicians-only site. DoctorNetworking is able to offer physicians free membership, free of pharmaceutical promotion and free from the fear that their personal information will be sold.

DoctorsHangout: This is a personal and professional networking site geared toward doctors and med students worldwide. Doctors can exchange clinical experiences, review their cases and share clinical knowledge in privacy in a site that holds features such as reviews, customized profile page, photo and video uploads and more.

Healtheva: This network is geared toward physicians, researchers, residents, interns, and medical students. Once registered, you can join a private community interested in basic science research, clinical research, paper collaboration, and startup and commercialization opportunities.

Ozmosis: This is the network where “good doctors go to become great doctors.” Register to build a network or to learn from peers in ask and answer portals, a section for clinical cases and from the journal club, where professionals discuss journal articles and more.

Relaxdoc: This site offers a free online resource for physicians, created by physicians. Exchange views about personal and professional issues, discuss cases, drugs or course treatments, share ideas for management and more along with access to a full Medline database, medical journals, professional resources and educational exclusives.

Sermo: Sermo claims to be the largest online physician community in the U.S., with over 115,000 community members. This is where physicians come to collaborate on difficult cases and to exchange observations about drugs, devices and clinical issues.

Student Doctor Network: No matter your specialty, this site can help you focus on your major or on networking with other students in your field. Enjoy forums, blogs, wikis and a bookstore that can help you ace your med studies. Med students also can use some doctor networking sites listed here.

Tiromed: This is a free networking resource portal for physicians and med students to use for networking, information sharing and building community. This site was founded by a group of practicing physicians.

Specialities

BioCrowd: If you are a student, scientist, business person or other healthcare professional with a passion for bioscience, you may want to join this network to build relationships, share ideas, find jobs and identify new career opportunities.

DermRounds: This networking site was created by dermatologists for dermatologists, residents, fellows, other physicians, health professionals, industry leaders and anyone else who is connected with the field of dermatology.

OBGYN.net: Join this group to share knowledge and gain information form over one million pages filled with educational content, discussion forums, videos, educational tutorials and images. The goal of this network is to continuously improve services in the field of women’s healthcare.

Present Diabetes: Built by Present eLearning systems, this networking site provides researchers and caregivers with a collaborative community with the singular goal of fighting the diabetes epidemic.

Present Podiatry: This site also is managed by Present eLearning systems, and it focuses on community built around health care professionals who focus on foot care. Gain access to cutting edge CME lectures, focus groups, blogs, instant messaging, chat and other forms of professional networking at this networking site.

SurgyTec: This community offers surgeons a place to share case reports, receive second opinions, learn about events and news and connect with other surgeons. SurgyTec is based in The Netherlands, but operates globally with a large community of the best medical practitioners and academic peers.

Syndicom SpineConnect: With a growing case knowledgebase of over 1300 cases and 5000 reviews, SpineConnect is the place where spine surgeons look for insights into complicated cases, information on new technologies, and as a venue for conducting case-based research.

Within3: This site offers a venue for clinicians, physicians, nurses and more to create environments for collaboration, clinical trials and professional networks.

Nurses

MyNurseBook: This networking site for nurses focuses on the global nurse shortage and solutions to this crises. This site looks as though it is fairly new, so get in on the ground floor.

Nurse Connect: Find friends and former nursing colleagues, network your way into a new nursing job, rate and review hospitals and more with privacy at this nurses’ networking site. NurseConnect is owned and operated by AMN Healthcare, Inc.

Nurse.com: Registered users have full access to a site filled with discussions, polls, content and other features. This iste is sponsored by Gannett Healthcare Group, publisher of many nurse publications.

NurseLinkUP: Nurses can use this site to find jobs, to create a detailed profile and to connect to other nurses. NurseLinkUP also maintains a Facebook page, so users can connect in two places. You must be registered to view all content.

NurseTogether: This site is more than a network site, as it offers advice, education, forums, global nursing focuses, a store and more. Nurses, nursing students and those considering a career in nursing can come together, communicate and connect on the issues that matter to them at this site.

NurseZone: This online community is dedicated to providing nurses with professional and personal development information and opportunities. Users can find a wealth of helpful content and engage in forums, blogs and with sharing personal stories and experiences.

Student Nurse Network: This is a new Ning social networking site that was built by nursing students for other nursing students. Create a page, engage in forums, share photos and more once you’ve registered.